Hello JD Class of '89. I have a proposal for you for an art project I'm hoping to create.
In the summer of 1989 we were all still friends.
In 2025 we're scattered and divided in a way that none of us could ever have imagined.
What we share is the farming community where we grew up — Hazlehurst, the county seat of Jeff Davis County, GA, population 14,779.
In 1989, 149 of us graduated. The goal of this project is to find all of us who still remain and ask each person the same question:
Why did you leave?
or
Why did you stay?
Everyone will be encouraged to answer fully and honestly, with the option of their replies remaining anonymous. In the final exhibit, responses will be printed and framed, then hung separately from the portraits to ensure that identities are not revealed.
Ultimately, the final physical form of this project will be a book.
The portraits are made in natural light to emphasize authenticity, and photographed using large format film, a medium that reflects the era we grew up in, before digital cameras and home computers reshaped how we document our lives.
Each portrait will be set in a place that reflects the individual’s personal journey, whether it’s the home they never left, a spot filled with formative memories, a defining career environment, or a place they see as a “new start.”
The aesthetic is grounded in the relatable everyday, reflecting the project’s theme of ordinary lives carrying extraordinary weight in the choices they make.
Accompanying the large format portraits displayed on the walls of the gallery, video of selected interviews will be displayed on a monitor, along with smaller format photos of selected scenes from the town through the years, memorabilia, and a copy of our high school yearbook.
This project is about understanding the choices we made and where we are now. We are living in turbulent times and I believe it's important to preserve stories about the lives and perspectives of everyday people.
1989 - The Distance Between Us hopes to bring together the stories of a group of people bound by the same past but split by time, distance, and decisions.
These portraits and stories reflect not just where we came from, but the weight of staying, the pull of leaving, and all the ordinary moments that led us there.
I hope this experience, this experiment, will help us understand more about ourselves and bring us closer together.